This invention relates to building structures and more particularly to those structures required for industrial manufacture. Particularly in a continuous manufacture process operation an overhead crane system, operating on lateral and longitudinal track systems, is essential. The building disclosed herein, although not incorporating an overhead crane system into its interior construction does provide a system with all the flexibility required while allowing for a smaller more economical building structure.
This type of building is particularly adaptable to housing machinery, e.g. a paper machine, for use in a continuous process activity. If a particular process requires continuous operation of all stages, interruption of any one stage is costly. This building makes possible utilization of an overhead crane system which is not an integral part of the building without interruption of the total process operation.
In the manufacture of paper for instance where large machines and complicated operations are involved and a building may be a city block in length, an adequate overhead crane system must be available within the building to move equipment for repair or replace heavy machinery or provide other maintenance functions.
In paper making, a slurry comprised of a suspension of fibers and other ingredients is continuously fed onto a continuously moving wire belt or screen. A formed sheet is removed continuously and passes over various rolls, suction boxes and through other drying stages. Each of these devices causes water to drain through the wire and as this water is removed the sheet is formed. Various drainage, pressing and drying operations are performed on the sheet as it progresses through the paper machine building. The final surface qualities of the paper are determined in the calendering step and the paper is eventually wound on cylinders prepared for either shipment or storage.
Clearly the paper making type of process requires a continuous operation. Further it requires a building which can be well ventilated since water removal is a major part of the process.
Traditionally, industrial buildings, including paper machine buildings, are constructed much larger than would be necessary if the only consideration were housing the particular machinery itself. Extra height and width of a building is utilized for a superstructure which supports and carries various overhead cranes and hoists. This type of superstructure must extend the entire length of the building. The hoist and crane mechanisms must also run on tracks both laterally and longitudinally of the building to provide complete flexibility for the various functions required of it.
To construct a superstructure within a building as is required for an overhead crane system is extremely costly. It has been, however, an essential interior part of most manufacturing buildings since they must be enclosed and protected from weather while the machine are operating. A building housing a paper machine for instance must be closed to the elements to avoid damage to machines and the process. Consequently, to perform various maintenance functions, as always in the past, required a completely enclosed building with the crane system incorporated into the interior.